DOD furlough decision made

By FCW Staff

May 14, 2013

DOD's civilian employees now know how many furlough days are coming. (Stock image)

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on May 14 announced that his department would be implementing furloughs of 11 days for most civilian employees -- one day a week, starting July 8 and continuing through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

"The Department has been doing everything possible to reduce this shortfall, Hagel wrote in a message to all DOD personnel. "[W]e have cut back sharply on facilities maintenance, worked to shift funds from investment to O&M accounts, and reduced many other important but non-essential programs."

Even so, Hagel said, furloughs are still needed to meet reduced funding levels set by sequestration. "I have made this decision very reluctantly, because I know that the furloughs will disrupt lives and impact DOD operations," he wrote. "I recognize the significant hardship this places on you and your families."

Resource

The furloughs are significantly less severe than the 22 days originally planned. Defense officials first convinced Congress to provide additional budget flexibility, and reduced the projected number of furlough days to 14 before settling on the final number.

Hagel promised to scale back furloughs even further if the budget allows. "If our budgetary situation permits us to end furloughs early, I would strongly prefer to do so," he wrote. "That is a decision I will make later in the year."

OPM is partnering with CSID to try to manage the fallout from a massive breach of some 4 million federal personnel records.

Reader comments

Thu, May 16, 2013

You know OPM needs to invetigate why federal employee's are on a time clock, punch in/out. They must be looking at ways to get rid of employees's. When you are on salary and they only give you comp time 1 for 1 and somtimes not even that. You have to call your Boss to get approval before you even work those hours but be late from lunch or getting in and wow, they want to hang you by the balls and let you go next time you do that. They never account for the time that we work late or come in early, if we were on hourly rates then they would make us take longer lunch hours and leave early just to not pay us that overtime. The goverment needs to get sued for putting a time clock on salary employee's now if you see a person abusing there time document that person but don't go there and make everyone pay for that persons laziness. I know management has to account for people but this is not the way to go about it. Cut all those confrences that really are not helpful to these Judges, congressmen, senators and you will save billions of dollars yearly. Management meetings need to be done by video or tele-confrences. Have video confrences court for rual areas to keep from spending billions of dollars in per-diem cost. Cut life time pay and make them put into retirement just like the rest of America.

Wed, May 15, 2013

Remember to vote out everyone this election year. This is not the fault of one party, its politicians in general. Tired of Government employees being the country's scapegoat.

Wed, May 15, 2013

Hagel stated "I recognize the significant hardship this places on you and your families." I don't think he has clue. What really gets me is the fact that Congressman and Senators only have to serve one term and they can retire and draw a retirement check and us DoD civilians get screwed. Take their retirement checks away and use that money to help oout the budget and make them retire at the same as thr rest of us.

Wed, May 15, 2013

All political theater and still no firm decision. "That is a decision I will make later in the year." EVERYONE furloughed needs to exercise each and every right of appeal available. If they are doing this just to "make it hurt," we can do the same...

Wed, May 15, 2013

He is lying. Getting rid of/combining even a few of the duplicated functions within DoD, or between DoD and the rest of Federal Govt, would easily have saved enough to avoid the furloughs. But nobody wants to give up turf and power. Sadly, those with the power to force DoD to clean up their act (Congress and POTUS) have zero interest in doing so.